


Glirting

by HeithChief



Series: Discord Prompts [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Awkward Flirting, Cafe AU, First Kiss, M/M, established Keith/Hunk (Voltron), keith gives terrible advice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-03
Updated: 2018-02-03
Packaged: 2019-03-13 00:29:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13558836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeithChief/pseuds/HeithChief
Summary: Lance goes off to college and while he's there, has a bi awakening of sorts. He likes guys, but has no idea how to talk to them. So he seeks out his roommate Keith, who's always been openly gay. Keith and his boyfriend, Hunk, convince Hunk that gay flirting (or as my discord friends have dubbed it "Glirting") is way different for straight flirting. Lance needs to make a big show of asking Shiro out so he'll get it's a more than friends thing. It was supposed to be a harmless prank, but what if it causes more damage than Keith and Hunk intended?





	Glirting

**Author's Note:**

  * For [starboyshiro](https://archiveofourown.org/users/starboyshiro/gifts).



> This started as an idea about my own bi struggles. Like how do I talk to girls? It evolved to a brainstorming on the shance discord server. I decided to write this out as a gift for our amazing mod, starboyshiro. I love you and I'm sorry this is three days late. School has been kicking my ass. Happy Birthday, love!

Lance had spent most of life thinking he was straight. He's always chased after girls. If he asked anyone in his hometown what he was known for, it would be a flirt or a ladies’ man. Maybe because it's culturally conditioned to think straight is the norm, or maybe he was too afraid to even admit to himself that he'd be anything outside the norm. He had always been fine with living in the social norm. That was, until he went off to college.

 

 There was something cool about going somewhere completely new and all the possibilities that went with going somewhere no one knew him. Lance had the chance to reinvent himself. Maybe he didn’t want to be known as the ladies’ man anymore, maybe he wanted to be someone different. Now he could. It was start with his roommate. He would be cool and they would become friends right away.  Lance has heard horror stories about terrible freshman roommates and he was determined not make his roommate situation turn out terribly. That is, of course until he met his freshman roommate, Keith.

 

Keith was the complete opposite of him. Quiet, recovered, a bit withdrawn, some would say unfriendly, but that wasn’t exactly it. He did seem annoyed by Lance’s excitement over having a roommate that wasn’t a sibling, though. Like having a roommate was the worst thing that could have happened to Keith. Things really weren’t working out the way Lance expected them to, and it was just day one. Over the next three weeks, one of two things became their norm. Either they fought and bickered constantly, or completely ignored each other. It was not Lance’s ideal situation.

 

Keith pissed him off at times, but he didn’t hate the guy. Keith was naturally smart and somehow super cool at parties, even though he never tried to be. When Keith had finally agreed to go out to a party with Lance, he found all that out very quickly. Keith became a rival in that way. It wasn’t fair. He learned another thing that night, though, Keith was gay and was very open about it. It was kind of cool in Lance’s opinion to be like “here I am, accept me or not, I don’t give a fuck.”

 

In that way Lance kind of admired Keith. Not that he was into him that, but like in friend sort of way. Keith said he’s always known he's gay and he's not afraid to show it. Why should he be? People are annoying anyway and the ones who don’t like him should just get lost. That was the night where they started transitioning toward friendship. The alcohol, of course, helped Keith loosen up a bit and they started talking, instead of shouting or sassing each other. It was nice. After that, Lance and Keith started hanging out on the weekends and going out together. The thing about having a gay best friend, was Lance then tended to be around a lot of guys. He thought at first it was funny to scope guys out for and with Keith, but then he started to become unsure of his own sexuality. Was he picking out the guys for Keith or did he actually find them attractive too? Keith just laughed in his face when asked about this dilemma.

 

_“Have you ever considered the fact that you could be bisexual?”_

 

Lance had looked at Keith like he had three heads back then, but the more he thought about it the more it might be true. That question haunted him and sometimes kept him up at night. Keith was definitely not his type, but maybe other guys could be? The thought of dating a gay didn’t seem so repulsive, actually it made Lance feel a little warm inside. Then he started imagining kissing guys at parties and that wasn’t so bad either. Yeah, he still liked girls, but now he was interested in exploring another side of him. One he had never awakened until now. That was the thing about college, for many people it was time of change and self-discovery. Lance was definitely in that stage of life. Now that he had come to terms with it, Lance really wanted to date a guy, but he never found one.

 

Until now.

 

Lance and Keith were now Juniors, still living together, but now in an apartment instead of a cramped dorm. They had never really had problems living together after that first party, so why risk it with a new roommate? Also, although they both kind of hated admitting it out loud, they were each other’s best friends.

 

It was Wednesday, and Lance was at his favorite café on campus, Lyfe. He supposed they spelled it with a y intending to be cool or something. Lance liked because it was relatively cheap and had mission of making healthy food. He went there about once a week, at least, when he decided to eat out instead of cooking whatever food he had at home. Lance walked up to cash register and was completely blown away by the cashier, to say the least. Lance had never seen the guy before, but maybe he just hadn’t gone to Lyfe when the guy had been working. He was tall and muscular, like the kind of muscular that could probably bench press Lance if he wanted to. Also, he had jawline and cheek bones to die for, and Lance was dying for them inside. So, apparently, he did have a type.

 

“Hi, welcome to Lyfe Café. How can I help you today?” The cashier greeted him with a friendly smile and Lance would have melted if he could. This guy who looked super tough and manly, had the prettiest smile Lance had ever seen. Or maybe his brain was exaggerating at little, but Lance didn’t care. He noticed the name tag the guy was wearing read ‘Shiro’ and Lance thought the name suited him well.

 

“Uh…I would like. A wrap and a side of sweet potato fries.”

 

“What kind of wrap? We have four different types on the menu, plus our seasonal one.” The guy, Shiro, was clearly trying to be nice, but Lance just sounded so stupid. He didn’t even tell Shiro what he wanted. This was his usual order? How the hell did he mess this up?

 

“Oh, um right. Buffalo—buffalo chicken please.” Lance paid for his meal and took the number back to his table. Fuck. Could he have looked anymore like an idiot? Lance found a table far away from the cashier stand, but one where he could still see Shiro. He might have acted like an idiot, but he still wanted to check Shiro out. He wasn’t blind. Lance waited for his meal, a bit impatiently, jiggling his foot, and sneaking glances at Shiro as he interacts with other customers. Shiro’s just so pretty, especially when he smiles and wow, all Lance could think in that moment was, _fuuuuck I’m soooo bi. There’s no question now. But like how the hell do you talk to guys? It’s not like I can just go up there and be like yo, I don’t know if you like guys, but I like guys so maybe you might like me?_

 

Lance wanted to smack himself for how stupid that even sounded in his head. _Definitely don’t do that._ He got a little lost in thought and when he tried to look at Shiro again, he was suddenly not there. Lance deflated a little and sighed, using his phone to distract himself as he waited for his food. Yeah, he was disappointed that he couldn’t look at the hottie anymore. Maybe Shiro’s shift had ended.

 

“Here’s your meal, enjoy.”

 

Lance recognized the voice immediately and looked up into Shiro’s face. He hadn’t expected to see him and almost fell out of his chair. Shiro seemed to catch his surprise and smiled down at him.

 

“Sorry for startling you. I hope you enjoy.”

 

Lance is glad in that moment that he’s sitting down, because Shiro’s smile would have definitely made him weak in the knees. It was stupid and cliché, but it didn’t make it any less true. Shiro was about leave. No. He needed to say something to make Shiro stay or at least to try to make him smile, but what the hell should he say? He ended up blurting the first thing that came to his mind. “So, you deliver meals and work cashier, huh? Busy guy.” Lance winced internally at how stupid that must have sounded. Why could he use any pick-up lines in the book with girls, but his first crush on a guy makes him so nervous?

 

Luckily, Shiro didn’t ignore him or make fun on him. “No,” he answered, “we have food runners usually, but I volunteered for this one.” Shiro winked and walked away to take his place behind the cash register.  

 

Lance was left a blushing mess because what the hell did that wink mean? Was that a line?

Lance sighed and finished his meal as quickly as possible, so he could just leave already. He’s too embarrassed and confused right now. Also, he needed to talk to Keith. Keith would know what all of this meant. Keith would know how to pick out if guys were into other guys. Maybe there was certain way he was supposed to flirt with guys to show he wasn’t straight. This was a whole new thing for Lance. He walked back to their apartment with all of those thoughts swirling in his head. He needed to figure out how to be smoother next time.

 

He was happy Keith was sitting in the living room with his boyfriend Hunk. Good. He’d have two opinions on this whole thing. “Keith. How do you talk to guys?”

 

Keith snorted and quickly paused the TV show they were watching. Whatever was about to happen, he needed to give it his full attention. “Who is it?”

 

“Wh-what do you mean? Who says it has to be a someone? I was wondering for…research…purposes?”

 

Keith rolled his eyes and sighed. Lance could tell by his expression that Keith didn’t buy it one bit. “Because I’ve been waiting for the day that you decide to actually ask out a guy. I knew you were bi before you did. Of course, it’d be certain guy that’d make you actually want to make the leap.”

 

“You’re finally going to come out? This is amazing.” Hunk sat up straighter, so ready for this. “Ooo! Well tell us who?”

 

Lance narrowed his eyes at Hunk and shook his head. “You know, Hunk, you were my friend first, but now you’re always taking his side. Unfair. You wouldn’t have even been dating Keith if I hadn’t introduced the two of you!”  

 

Hunk rolled his eyes and wrapped his arm around Keith’s shoulders. “I take his side when he’s right.”

 

“Which, when it comes to going against you, it’s most of the time.” Keith smirked, but changed his expression with his next words. He didn’t really have time for or care for Lance’s avoidance on the topic. If they were going to help Lance, he wasn’t going to put up with any bullshitting. “Anyway, stop being a drama queen. You’ve avoided it twice now, who is it?”

 

“Fine!” Lance held up his hands in surrender, “he works at Lyfe café and he’s a cashier. I don’t really know him, but his name tag said his name was Shiro.”

 

Hunk nodded in approval, “Nice!”

 

“You know him?!”

 

“Yeah, he’s the Graduate Assistant for the engineering department Keith and I have taken a couple of the classes that he helps with. I heard he doesn’t date undergraduate students.”

 

Lance groaned, not liking that response and flopped down on the couch beside Hunk, burying his face into a pillow. Of course, he’d finally find a guy whom he likes, and they can’t date. He let out a frustrated scream into his pillow that made Keith and Hunk laugh. He picked his head up and glared at them for laughing at his misery. “Is he at least into guys?”

 

Keith furrowed his brow, thinking about it. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen him with anyone around campus.”

 

Lance sighed and decided to tell them about his exchange with Shiro anyway. “Do you think he was flirting with me?

 

Keith and Hunk exchanged a look before looking back at him. “Yes.”

 

Lance sat up straighter and gripped Hunk’s arm, “You’re not fucking with me, right?”

 

“That was definitely flirting. Who knew he could? Shirogane is always so serious in class. He’s too much like a teacher to me.” Keith stuck out his tongue and made a gagging noise at the thought of finding Shiro attractive.

 

“But he’s hot.” Hunk shrugged and teased Keith, “you just don’t like being told what to do.”

 

“Hunk, babe, don’t talk about other guys when I’m right here.” Keith teased back and Lance rolled his eyes at their cuteness. Yeah, they were cute, but this wasn’t about them. At least not right now.

“Guys! Focus. What do I do? How do I talk to him?”

Keith smirked at Hunk before giving Lance a smug look. “Gay flirting is waaaay different from straight flirting. You can’t be subtle. He’ll love it if you make a big show of it. Oh! You should serenade him. Make sure the song is very gay. Like ‘If You Were Gay’ by avenue Q.”

 

Hunk stifled a laugh and joined in. “Or! My personal fave ‘Radio Friendly Pop Song’ by Matt Fisher.”

 

Lance eyed them suspiciously, “What? This seems like a trick. How did you ask Keith out?”

 

“I made him dinner and dessert. The cake had ‘will you go out with me?’ Written on it in red icing.” Hunk said cheerily, smiling at Keith.

 

“That’s not real. That’s how you two got together?”

 

Keith smiled softly at Hunk and Lance could tell by how Keith looked, remembering it, that it was true. “He’s serious. That’s how he asked me out. It was so sweet.”

 

“Ah! Good joke.” Hunk laughed at Keith’s little accidental pun.

 

“Seriously Hunk, I think you’re the only one who finds him funny.” Lance rolled his eyes, but thought about what they were saying. Maybe gay flirting was supposed to be different. It would make sense that he’d have to do something very different to show he was doing it in not a friendly way. “So, I should go to Lyfe and serenade him? In front of everyone. I think you’re screwing with me.”

 

“That’s perfect. He’ll love it. We’ll go with you for moral support!” Hunk grinned and Keith nodded along with him. “Wait! I thought of the perfect song! Use Hayley Kiyoko’s ‘Girls Like Girls’ but change it ‘Boys Like Boys’!”

 

“Hunk! Yes! That’s amazing, babe.” Keith beamed, kissing Hunk’s cheek.

 

“Thanks, honey.” Hunk was practically glowing from Keith’s praise. Then again, Lance didn’t blame him. Keith didn’t praise people often.

 

But they were being ridiculous, sure he wanted Shiro to notice him, but he wasn’t willing to ruin his reputation to do it. “No. I’m not doing that.”

 

“You actually have a nice singing voice, Lance.” Hunk commented with a shrug, trying to encourage him.

 

“He doesn’t date undergrads, remember? He might have just flirted with you because he didn’t know. You have to do something big to get him to change his mind.” Keith urged, doing his best to sound genuine and not teasing like he felt.

 

Lance shook his head, “you guys are ridiculous. I have to go to class.” He grabbed his backpack and headed out.

 

“Think about it!” Keith yelled after him.

 

Hunk burst out into laughter once he was out of earshot, “He believed it. You are so mean to him, Keith.”

 

Keith laughed with him, “I know, but you went along with it!”

 

“Because it was funny and it’s Lance. Also, it’s you and I always go along with you.” Hunk leaned over and gave him a kiss. It was soft and chaste. It reminded Keith of their first kiss and maybe that was the point. “And that cake thing was true. So maybe we were kind of right?

 

“You did go about in a big way, so we didn’t quite lie.”

 

“Only because you didn’t pick up on my flirts!” Hunk jested, poking Keith’s chest. “I mean you’re the openly gay one.”

 

Keith rolled his eyes, “and you’re hella demi. I didn’t know that until I started dating you!”

 

Hunk smiled and hugged him, “I know. Do you think he’ll actually do it?”

 

“It’s _Lance._ He loves putting on a show. I think he just might. Remember that dance off he had with that one kid at a party because he doubted Lance could actually dance well.”

 

Hunk chuckled a little, thinking about that night. Lance had won, and the kid was stunned. Lance was pretty good dancer and really knew how to move his hips. “Oh yeah. That was incredible.”

 

“If he doesn’t invite us along, I’m going to be pissed. I have to video it, so if he gets rejected, at least we’ll get a viral video.”

 

“You’re horrible.” Hunk said, but he was grinning at the thought of it.

 

“You love it.”

 

“I do.” Hunk leaned in and kissed Keith again. This was longer and a lot less chaste. Keith made the move first though, sliding his tongue between Hunk’s lips. He’d kissed a lot of boys in his day, but there wasn’t a boy he enjoyed making out with more than he did Hunk. He was just so soft, warm, and affectionate. All the things that would normally make Keith shy away and all the things that didn’t come to Keith naturally. Hunk had taught him how to be that way, but only with him.

 

“Wait!” Hunk said suddenly, pulling away from the kiss as a random thought struck him. “Won’t Shiro hate that kind of public thing.” Hunk said after they’d been kissing for a bit. “He’s pretty private about his social life in class.”

 

Keith grinned darkly, “Yup.”

 

“You set him up for failure!”

 

Keith chuckled a bit like he was having the time of his life. Then again, maybe he was. Not many things made him happier than messing with Lance. Well, almost, being with Hunk topped of all of that, but he’d never say that out loud. “Payback for that prank he pulled on me last week. Though who knows, it might work out?”

 

“Hm, true, Lance has this way of being completely dorky and yet totally endearing at the same time.”

 

* * *

Two weeks have gone by since Lance’s conversation with Hunk and Keith. Lance has gone with Lyfe cafe every day, his poor wallet, and tried to flirt with Shiro in regular ways. He gets a smile and they even had a whole conversation when he caught Shiro on break one day. Lance walked into the café and was sad that Shiro wasn’t his cashier. He ordered and went over to sit at his usual table. Then again, he couldn’t really expect Shiro to work every day. He had his GA position too.

 

“Hey, you’re here again.” Lance looked up and saw Shiro grinning down at him as he slid into the seat across from him. “Do you mind if I join you? It’s always better to spend my break eating with someone else.”

 

“Uh, go ahead.”

 

“Is this your favorite place? I feel like I see you here a lot.”

 

_Welllll…kinda? It’s more like my favorite person is here…sooo…_ “Yeah, I like it. Also, sometimes I don’t feel like making my own lunch.”

 

“I feel that. Though, I eat here all time since I get free meals every time I work. It sure helps my wallet, but it’d be nice to get lunch somewhere else for a change. I’m working two jobs and, yet I feel broke. Though, my graduate position pays for like half of my tuition and gives me housing money. This is just to supplement everything else. Are you in grad school too?”

 

Lance thought about his options here for a second and he could lie, but he was sure Shiro would figure him out. Also, he wouldn’t really want a build a relationship on lies. He’d just have to hope that Shiro might make and exception. Then again, he started to doubt that would happen. Why would he be the special one to break Shiro’s rules? He was a pretty ordinary guy. “No. I’m an undergrad, junior. I’m a Fashion Merchandizing major.”

 

“Oh? That’s cool! What are you going to do with that?”

  
              “I want to be a buyer for a department store or even a makeup/skin care store like Ulta or something. It would be cool to go out and decide what new products stores will stock and stuff.” Wow. Lance had actually managed to form a full sentence around Shiro. Sure, this was small talk, but hey, that was something.

 

“Oh yeah? Are you into skin care? Is that why your skin looks so nice?”

 

_Oh shit. Is that flirting? It’s flirting right? Or maybe it’s not. Remember Keith and Hunk said gay flirting isn’t like that. He’ll do it in a big way. He’s just showing interest in what I’m saying._ “You think it looks nice? I could show you my skin care routine that I do at night some time.”   


Shiro laughed a little. He didn’t think that Lance knew just how cute he could be when he got excited about something. Although, he wasn’t quite reacting to Shiro’s flirts the way he expected him to, maybe Lance just wasn’t into him. For all he knew, Lance was just straight. He heard about Lance’s reputation from girls in his program. Nothing from the guys. Though if that was true, then why did Lance blush like he did the first time. Maybe he was just embarrassed about stumbling over his words. That would make more sense. “Yeah? I could probably use some help.”

 

“Totally! It’d be so fun to help you pick out one that’s suited to your skin.”

 

Shiro wanted to ask if that was date, but he refrained. The rest of their lunch, stayed in the friendship category, just getting to know each other’s interesting and talking about classes until Shiro had to get back to work.

 

Lance walked home so frustrated from lunch. Sure, they had talked, and he managed to have an actual conversation with Shiro, but it was just that. A conversation. Like one he’d have with a friend. This was getting him nowhere. Maybe Hunk and Keith were actually right. Maybe he did have to something big. It was decided, he was going to go with the plan. He was glad Keith was at class or out with Hunk when he got back. It would give him privacy to look up the Hunk had mentioned. He watched the video and it’s cute, the song is catchy and if he changed the key a bit, he’d be able to sing it. Lance then looked up the lyrics and wrote them, so they would work for males. Over the next week he practiced singing it whenever he could.

 

Keith came back from class one day to catch Lance singing it in the shower and he immediately ran next door to knock on Hunk’s door. He was so excited that his knocking was erratic and frantic. He just needed to discuss this with someone. Like always, Hunk was the first person he always wanted to share things with.

 

Hunk heard the frantic pounding on his door and ran to answer it, thinking it was an emergency. “Oh Keith! What’s wrong?”

 

“What? Nothing. Lance was singing it in the shower. His version of ‘Girls Like Girls’. He spent time changing the key and rewriting the lyrics. I found evidence in his desk drawer.”

 

Hunk shook his head, relieved that Keith wasn’t in trouble or something. Of course, this was a Lance thing.  “You are so diabolical and way too excited about the downfall of our friend. Are you sure this a good idea? I mean, it would be funny, but this is different than your guy’s prank war. Lance really likes him. He was gushing about Shiro yesterday. I don’t want this to crush him. It doesn’t feel right anymore.

 

Keith sighed, of course Hunk was always the voice of reason when he got too carried away. He needed that to ground him and calm him down. Even when it ruined his ‘messing with Lance’ schemes. “You’re right. Always my voice of reason...but what if it works? I mean Shiro might actually need it done in a big way though to actually consider dating an undergrad.”

 

“Maybe...but we should tell him it was a joke. The fact that he spent so much time on it should be payback enough, right?” 

 

“The look on his face will make it worth it.” Keith looked a little defeated as he led Hunk next door to wait for Lance.

 

“Oh good, you guys are here.” Lance was relieved to seem the sitting on the couch when he came out of the shower. He was about to call Keith and Hunk over here. “So, I’ve been practicing the song. My normal flirts aren’t working so you must be right. I’m going to do on Friday during Shiro’s shift. Will you come with me?”

 

Keith sighed again, still hating that he had to ruin this. “Lance, don’t do this. Hunk and I were playing a prank on you. Shiro won’t be a fan of you doing a public thing like that. Gay flirting isn’t like that. I thought it would be funny.”

 

Lance shook his head and ignored Keith. “No, no, no. You’re trying to talk me out of it, but it won’t work.”

 

“Lance. We’re serious. This was Keith’s payback for last week.” Hunk urged, showing his seriousness in his tone and his expression. He was more convincing than Keith when he got serious. It was hard to tell with Keith sometimes if he was being serious or just using his dry sarcasm.

 

“Or is talking me out of it the prank? You did something big and it worked for you two. I’m doing it with or without your support. It’ll be awesome! He’ll be crazy not to love it.”

 

Hunk and Keith looked at each other and collectively sighed. Lance got carried away and they couldn’t bring him back now. “Okay, but just know we warned you. We’ll support you.” Hunk responded for the both of them.

* * *

Friday rolled around, and Lance is confident in his plans. The three of them went to restaurant around 2:30 knowing Shiro’s shift ended at 3. Hopefully for Lance, the lunch rush will mostly have died down by then. They couldn’t imagine what would have happened if Lance would have done this at noon or one. There would be twice the amount of people than were here now. Keith had even skipped a class to witness this, but it was so worth it. He and Hunk took a seat in the booth closest to cashier, so they could witness this up close and pull Lance out if they needed to.  Keith has his phone out, ready to record. He reminded himself that they warned him and this world he excellent blackmail later.

 

“Hi Lance, back again, huh? What can I get you today? The usual or do you want to try something new?” Shiro greets Lance by name and Keith snorted. Lance had been here enough that he had a usual.

 

“Something new. I actually have something for you today.”

 

“Oh, you do? What would that be?” Shiro smiled, flirting back.

 

Keith eyes grew wide and looked at Hunk, whispering so it wouldn’t be too distracting on the video. “Holy shit, Shirogane actually _is_ flirting with him. It’s totally gross in person.”

 

“I know. It’s weird to see him when he’s not acting as the Engineering department’s ‘Golden Boy’. I mean I know he has other sides, but still...” Hunk whispered, directing his attention back to Lance.

 

“It’s a surprise.” Lance took a deep breath and started playing the backing track on his phone. He started singing and Shiro’s face dropped as the cafe went silent, watching them. Lance’s voice was so pretty, and he loved the song, but people were watching them. Some of his students were here as well as his coworkers. He was very embarrassed. He tried to focus on the song and he had recognized it immediately. It was the male version of “Girls Like Girls”.

 

Now he got it. Lance did like him back, but he just didn’t know how to tell him. He watched Lance’s face as he sung and tried to focus on that, not on all the people staring at them right now. There was so much hope and affection in Lance’s ocean blue eyes, that Shiro felt himself growing more attracted to Lance by the minute. He must have spent so much time on this and put in so much effort into asking Shiro out this way. From what he knew about Lance, this probably wasn’t out of character for him. It was sweet, and Shiro felt like he could melt. He wanted to kiss him, but he also wanted him to stop.

Everyone clapped when it was over, and Lance took a dramatic bow, fixing his eyes on Shiro when he straightened up. “I really like you Shiro, will you go out with me?”

 

Shiro swallowed and rubbed the back of neck. He couldn’t reject Lance in front of all these people. Not, that he wanted to, but he hated the attention. He loved the song and Lance had done so well singing it. Lance was so dorky, and sweet, and cute and kind and he had put all this effort into doing something big. This would spread around and could ruin both of their reputations. College was a fragile place, after and when something happened, word spread around. Reputation was more at stake for Shiro, than Lance, but he couldn’t find himself to be mad at Lance. He just looked so relieved and proud of himself when he finished the song. Shiro wondered how long Lance had been keeping all of those feelings inside of him. It reminded him of the first time he asked a guy out. Maybe this was Lance’s first time.

 

“Yes. I will. Come with me.” Shiro walked around the counter and grabbed Lance’s wrist, leading Lance to the break room where they would be alone.

 

Keith stopped recording and Hunk cringed with second-hand embarrassment. “Well...he said yes?”

“I think that was mostly because of all the people were watching. Did you hear those short choppy, sentences? He didn’t seem happy.” Keith felt bad, this was no longer funny. Shiro might have actually liked Lance and they let Lance mess it up. They were horrible friends.

 

“We should have tried harder to talk him out of it.”

 

Hunk nodded, “I know...that was bad.”

 

“Fuck.”

 

Hunk just suddenly stood up and walked out.

 

Keith ran after him, worried that he upset Hunk with this plan of his. Yeah, Shiro looked upset, but maybe he was embarrassed. If everything went wrong, they’d have to find a way to make it up to Lance. “Wait, babe! Are you mad at me? I’m sorry.”

 

“No, honey, I’m not. I went along with it too. I’m going back to make Lance cupcakes.”

 

“Some ‘sorry we fucked up’ cupcakes?”

 

Hunk finally cracked a little smile. He couldn’t resist Keith’s dry sense of humor. “Basically, but he’ll want comfort food.”

 

“Hmm, true and there’s nothing more comforting than your food.”

 

* * *

 

 Lance was suddenly nervous as he let Shiro lead him away. His grip was almost too tight on Lance wrist. Something was wrong.

 

Shiro let go and finally faced Lance once they were alone. “That was really sweet, and you have a nice singing voice, but I have one question. What’s wrong with just asking me out like a normal person?” That came out a lot harsher than he meant it. Maybe that was just how Lance asked people out. It was rude of him to call Lance ‘not normal’. He cleared his throat and started again. “You know I’m a TA for some classes, my students come here. It works best if they see me only in a professional way, or else they try to get away with all kinds of crap. People always try to take advantage of the ‘fun’ TA.”

 

“...you’re mad?”

 

Shiro sighed, it was obvious Lance had put a lot of effort into that performance and he didn’t hate it. He actually loved it. A lot. “No, I’m embarrassed. I loved it, but just not so publicly. Again, why? You could have just asked me out. I’ve been flirting with you for two weeks. I would have said yes.”

 

Lance groaned and fell into one of the chairs in the room. “My friends said that’s not how gay flirting works. I should do something big to show you since we’re both boys. I had to show you it was more a than just friends thing. Also, they told me you don’t date undergrads, so I had to do something to show I was worth breaking that rule.”

 

Shiro couldn’t help but laugh a little. He had seen them both here today, it must have been them who put Lance up to this. “‘That’s not how gay flirting works’. Wow. They were definitely messing with you. Hunk and Keith, right? That’s a very Keith to do. Also, it’s not that I don’t date undergrads, I don’t date _engineering_ undergrads. They’ve probably seen me reject engineering students. That would be in direct violation of my job since I grade their papers and stuff. Your major is not even close, so it would be fine. More than fine.”

 

“So, we really are going out?” Lance looked up at him in hopeful surprise.

 

“Yes. I’ve got midterms to grade this weekend, but next weekend? Dinner on Saturday at 6:30?” Shiro smiled, Lance was just so cute especially with that little hopeful look.

 

Lance’s eyes lit up like the sky on a sunny day and Shiro’s heart started pounding. It had been so long since guy, or anyone rather, had made him feel this way “Yes! I’d love that.”

 

“Am I the first guy you’ve gone out with? I still can’t get over the ‘Gay flirting’ thing.”

 

Lance bit his lip and nodded. “I’ve only recently come out as bi.”

 

“That’s cute. So, I have to get back to work, closing out my cash drawer and stuff. I’ll see you Saturday, unless you come in for lunch before then.” Shiro leaned down to what he intended to be an innocent kiss on the cheek, but Lance’s lips just seemed so much more appealing. He changed his mind at the last minute and gave him a short, soft, kiss. Lance froze at first, not expecting the kiss, but he quickly kissed back so Shiro wouldn’t second guess himself. To his surprise, kissing a boy wasn’t that much different than kissing a girl. There were still another pair of lips involved, but this had felt so amazing, better than that if Lance could think of a word to describe that. Maybe because he he’d been pining after Shiro for the past two weeks. Or maybe because Shiro was just a better kisser than any of his other girlfriends. Either way, he couldn’t get enough.

                    

Shiro pulled away first and grinned down at him, biting his lower lip a little. “That was nice. I’ll see you Saturday.”

 

 Lance basically short-circuited for a minute before he could respond. “I-uh-right. That was nice… Maybe I will come in before Saturday, but my wallet could use a break from all this eating out I’ve been doing.”

 

“I can or should only do it once this week but come in, and I’ll give you a free meal. Shhh, it’s a secret though, only for you.”

 

“Okay! Well see you!” Lance started to walk out, but Shiro stopped him.

 

“Lance, you might need my number, so we can figure details for Saturday.”

 

“Right. That’s the whole point of asking someone out, isn’t it?” They exchanged numbers and Lance hesitated a bit, staring at Shiro for a minute. “Will you be working on Wednesday?”   
             

“Mmmhm. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday.”

 

“Will I get a kiss if I come see you before then?”

 

Shiro pursed his lips and rocked back on his heels as if he really needed to think it over. “…I suppose. So forward of you. I was wondering when I would see that side of you. As I’ve heard from some of the undergrad girls in my classes, you’re quite the charmer.”

 

“Yeah I am!” Lance beamed, but got a little embarrassed when Shiro just smiled at him. “Okay, well, I’ll surprise you with a visit maybe.”

 

“I’ll look forward to it.”   
             

Again, Shiro had been so straightforward that Lance couldn’t help but blush. He just wasn’t used to his flirts working so well. He waved to him and left the café, practically skipping, he was so happy. His phone buzzed against his hip as he walked home. He took it out and smirked down at the message as he read it.

             

**From Shiro <333**

**Tell Hunk and Keith if they pull that shit again, I might have abuse my TA powers and accidentally mark some of their test answers wrong.**

 

Lance snickered, this was going to make some awesome prank war material. He walked into his apartment to find both Hunk and Keith there as usual. Did Hunk ever spend time in his own apartment? The three of them might as well be living together. There were also around three dozen blue frosted cupcakes scattered on plates around their kitchen and living room. Hunk must have stressed baked.

 

“What’s with all the cupcakes?” He teased them.

 

Hunk swallowed nervously, and Keith answered for him. “Well, he rejected you, privately, didn’t he? We knew he wouldn’t do it publicly, but he hated that display, right? We feel bad for giving you that idea.”

 

“And I got really nervous and overbaked.” Hunk explained.

 

Lance thought about acting sad to prank them back, but he also wanted to shove it in Keith’s face. “No. We have a date on next Saturday. He was embarrassed, but he does like me. He just doesn’t date engineering students. Ethical problems there. Though he did want me to pass this along.” Lance showed them the message.

 

“Noooo my eyes. I hate it. The golden boy image is shattered. Keith said dryly.

 

“Same. It’s too weird. He’s the engineering department’s golden boy. It’s like seeing behind the curtain.” Hunk sighed dramatically, “but we’re happy for you. At least these can be celebratory cupcakes now.”

“Yeah they will be! Ooo! And they can be ‘congratulations on your first gay kiss, Lance!’ cupcakes.” Lance crossed his arms and smiled down at them with pride.

 

Hunk’s mouth fell open wide, “He kissed you? No way! Tell me everything that happened!”

 

“Ugh, no. It’s Shirogane, please spare me the details. We better not start double dating, I couldn’t handle that.” Keith buried his face in Hunk’s chest, as if Hunk would shield him from all of this.

 

“Oh no, Keith. I’m giving you all the details. Pay back for your little prank.”

 

“NOOOOOOOO.”

 

Lance laughed at Keith’s reaction and launched into the story of how he’d gotten asked out and gotten his first kiss from a guy. So maybe gay flirting was different from straight flirting, maybe it wasn’t Lance never got a conclusive answer, either way, he loved every second of it.


End file.
